Big
money
isn’t
just
for
Biglaw
—
boutique
law
firms
are
continuing
to
get
in
on
the
compensation
action,
and
associates
are
very
happy
about
it.
Yet
another
successful
boutique
law
firm
is
making
sure
that
its
associates’
accounts
are
flush
with
cash,
with
salaries
that
surpass
the
Biglaw
market
standard.
Say
hello
to
the
Houston
litigation
boutique
of
Ahmad,
Zavitsanos
&
Mensing
P.C.,
a
firm
that’s
more
commonly
known
as
“AZA.” We’ve
confirmed
that
the
firm
will
go
over
and
above
the
Cravath
salary
scale
for
first-year
associates,
pushing
their
annual
compensation
to
$235,000.
Second-year
associates
at
the
firm
will
also
receive
a
$10,000
raise.
“We’ve
long
matched
New
York
[Biglaw]
salaries,
and
this
year
we
are
raising
them
$10,000,”
AZA
managing
partner
John
Zavitsanos
said
of
the
salary
increases.
“We
send
our
new
lawyers
to
court
immediately,
and
they
are
worth
at
least
as
much
as
their
[Biglaw]
counterparts,
who
usually
don’t
get
anything
like
the
experience
the
AZA
associates
receive.”
Monica
Uddin,
AZA’s
hiring
partner,
shared
similar
thoughts,
saying,
“Our
young
lawyers
aren’t
stuck
making
other
people’s
outlines.
They’re
out
trying
cases,
and
we’ll
pay
them
more
for
it.
When
you
out-hustle
and
out-argue,
you
should
out-earn,
too.”
Congratulations
to
everyone
at
AZA!
Remember
everyone,
we
depend
on
your
tips
to
stay
on
top
of
this
stuff.
So
when
your
firm
matches,
please
text
us
(646-820-8477)
or email
us (subject
line:
“[Firm
Name]
Matches”).
Please
include
the
memo
if
available.
You
can
take
a
photo
of
the
memo
and
send
it
via
text
or
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if
you
don’t
want
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forward
the
original
PDF
or
Word
file.
And
if
you’d
like
to
sign
up
for
ATL’s
Bonus
Alerts
(which
is
the
alert
list
we’ll
also
use
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announcements),
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If
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announcement
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publish.
Staci
Zaretsky is
the
managing
editor
of
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to
email
her
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any
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